University teacherars and their attitude towards electronic learning derived from COVID-19.

Ante la imposibilidad de asistir presencialmente a las instituciones educativas como consecuencia de la pandemia de COVID-19, la educación digital se convirtió en el centro de atención al ser la forma en que mediante diferentes plataformas se realiza el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Ante la incorporación emergente a la educación digital, fue necesario identificar la actitud hacia el aprendizaje electrónico desde la percepción de los docentes de nivel superior. Mediante un muestreo no probabilístico intencional se aplicó a 87 docentes la Scale of Attitude Towards e-Learning en su versión traducida y adaptada. Los resultados indican la tendencia a una actitud favorable hacia el aprendizaje electrónico, considerando adoptar el aprendizaje electrónico como una forma de trabajo docente; sin embargo, el trabajo en línea está generando cierto grado de estrés en el profesorado al no poder controlar situaciones tecnológicas y la presión ejercida por sus compañeros ante el uso de las plataformas académicas

Multiple osmotic stress responses in acidihalobacter prosperus result in tolerance to chloride ions

Extremely acidophilic microorganisms (pH optima for growth of =3) are utilized for the extraction of metals from sulfide minerals in the industrial biotechnology of "biomining." A long term goal for biomining has been development of microbial consortia able to withstand increased chloride concentrations for use in regions where freshwater is scarce. However, when challenged by elevated salt, acidophiles experience both osmotic stress and an acidification of the cytoplasm due to a collapse of the inside positive membrane potential, leading to an influx of protons. In this study, we tested the ability of the halotolerant acidophile Acidihalobacter prosperus to grow and catalyze sulfide mineral dissolution in elevated concentrations of salt and identified chloride tolerance mechanisms in Ac. prosperus as well as the chloride susceptible species, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Ac. prosperus had optimum iron oxidation at 20 g L-1 NaCl while At. ferrooxidans iron oxidation was inhibited in the presence of 6 g L-1 NaCl. The tolerance to chloride in Ac. prosperus was consistent with electron microscopy, determination of cell viability, and bioleaching capability. The Ac. prosperus proteomic response to elevated chloride concentrations included the production of osmotic stress regulators that potentially induced production of the compatible solute, ectoine uptake protein, and increased iron oxidation resulting in heightened electron flow to drive proton export by the F0F1 ATPase. In contrast, At. ferrooxidans responded to low levels of Cl- with a generalized stress response, decreased iron oxidation, and an increase in central carbon metabolism. One potential adaptation to high chloride in the Ac. prosperus Rus protein involved in ferrous iron oxidation was an increase in the negativity of the surface potential of Rus Form I (and Form II) that could help explain how it can be active under elevated chloride concentrations. These data have been used to create a model of chloride tolerance in the salt tolerant and susceptible species Ac. prosperus and At. ferrooxidans, respectively. © 2017 The Authors

El pensamiento reflexivo a través de las metodologías narrativas: experiencias de innovación en educación superior

Coordinació: Marta Sabariego PuigEste cuaderno es fruto de dos proyectos concedidos en las convocatorias de ayudas a la investigación en docencia universitaria (REDI- CE14-1511 y REDICE16-1660). Están centrados en el estudio de las metodologías de carácter narrativo y (auto)biográfico (Suárez, 2011) sobre el pensamiento reflexivo para el desarrollo personal y profesional del alumnado universitario. Ambos proyectos han permitido la consolidación de una comunidad de práctica, una red interuniversitaria e interdisciplinar de profesorado docente e investigador que tiene como finalidad profundizar en la base teórica, la sistematización y la validación de las experiencias de innovación para el fomento del pensamiento reflexivo a través de las metodologías narrativas. El cuaderno es el producto del análisis colectivo de las experiencias desarrolladas y los resultados obtenidos, vinculando la investigación con la innovación para una docencia de calidad que nos lleve a pensar sobre el valor de una de las vías más importantes para construir y reconstruir significados en las actividades de enseñanza y aprendizaje que se plantean en el espacio universitario: la reflexión. El texto está organizado en dos secciones. La primera recoge tres apartados teóricos sobre la fundamentación conceptual del pensamiento reflexivo, las características de los espacios de aprendizaje favorables al desarrollo de esta competencia básica para el aprendizaje en la Universidad y el valor de los dispositivos narrativos diseñados. La segunda sección engloba diez experiencias innovadoras que ilustran el desarrollo de un aprendizaje más reflexivo en el alumnado vía escritura narrativa. Finalmente, el cuaderno concluye con propuestas para contribuir a la renovación y validación de una actividad docente organizada y estructurada a este efecto en la educación superio

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Antiviral role of IFITM proteins in African swine fever virus infection

The interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) protein family is a group of antiviral restriction factors that impair flexibility and inhibit membrane fusion at the plasma or the endosomal membrane, restricting viral progression at entry. While IFITMs are widely known to inhibit several single-stranded RNA viruses, there are limited reports available regarding their effect in double-stranded DNA viruses. In this work, we have analyzed a possible antiviral function of IFITMs against a double stranded DNA virus, the African swine fever virus (ASFV). Infection with cell-adapted ASFV isolate Ba71V is IFN sensitive and it induces IFITMs expression. Interestingly, high levels of IFITMs caused a collapse of the endosomal pathway to the perinuclear area. Given that ASFV entry is strongly dependent on endocytosis, we investigated whether IFITM expression could impair viral infection. Expression of IFITM1, 2 and 3 reduced virus infectivity in Vero cells, with IFITM2 and IFITM3 having an impact on viral entry/uncoating. The role of IFITM2 in the inhibition of ASFV in Vero cells could be related to impaired endocytosis-mediated viral entry and alterations in the cholesterol efflux, suggesting that IFITM2 is acting at the late endosome, preventing the decapsidation stage of ASFV